The term "playing card" refers to a category of cards which includes sports cards, trading cards, and game cards. Playing cards are traditionally manufactured from a plastic or paper base. Paper based cards generally comprise a paper substrate which is coated and then printed and then top-coated. Plastic cards are generally manufactured using a polyvinyl acetate or a polyvinyl chloride opaque film which is printed and then top-coated. It is also known to laminate a plastic film onto a paper base to manufacture a card such as a trading card.
Playing cards, particularly game cards, require certain functional characteristics, such as durability, resistance to marking, washability and stiffness. The cards also require certain aesthetic characteristics such as visual appearance.
Plastic cards excel in durability characteristics, namely oil, water, abrasion and stain resistance. They are difficult to mark and have good washability characteristics for reuse. However, plastic cards have exceptionally poor stiffness which is known in the art as snap.
Paper based playing cards, on the other hand, have excellent stiffness. The excellent stiffness of paper based playing cards provides for ease in handling, shuffling and dealing. The durability of paper based playing cards, however, is less than that for plastic cards.
The aesthetics of a playing card generally concern its visual appearance. Preferably, the cards should not have too high a gloss as to provide an irritating glare. The art work on the card must have sufficient visible ink density and gloss as to portray the intended image and not appear washed out.
A playing card, particularly a game card, should also have a certain amount of static slip to avoid having one card stick with respect to another.